


She's Cheer Captain & I'm on the Bleachers

by Heart_Seoul_Soshi



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2018-12-23 03:02:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11980710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heart_Seoul_Soshi/pseuds/Heart_Seoul_Soshi
Summary: So...wearing the Tourney captain's letterman is a thing, right?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> from an anonymous request on tumblr

Sunshine.  The smell of grass and the feel of it under her shoes.  Cheers and screams from the bleachers.  She certainly didn’t have this on The Isle.  The whistle blew, and Mal came to a stop, tugging her helmet off and letting the waves of purple come spilling out.  The screams only seemed to get louder when she did so, and half of them sounded like they were coming from the cheerleaders on the sidelines.  Jay jogged over to her, losing his helmet as well and letting his equally luscious locks flow free too.  More screaming.

“You wanna be the one to tell them practice is over?” he teased, elbowing Mal and pointing at the cheerleaders.

“Not only no, but heck no,” Mal walked with him to the center of the Tourney field.

Number 59 and Number 8 strolled idly across the ground to the tune of Auradon Prep’s shouts.  Jay was right, it was only practice, not an actual game, but the bleachers had seen more and more company on practice days ever since Mal became team captain.

“…What is  _she_  doing here?” Mal questioned, coming to a stop and tugging Jay to one by his sleeve.

“Head cheerleader?  Kind of her job to be here,” Jay flashed a grin as he waved at said cheerleaders.

“Not  _Audrey_ , genius.  But by all means, feel free to always remind me when my ex is hanging around.  I meant _her_ ,” Mal pointed into the bleachers with her Tourney stick.

Jay peered into the crowd, spotting the familiar face of Dopey’s kid and his chemistry partner sitting beside him.

“Evie?  Huh.  Good question.”

“Yeah, I thought the science kids were allergic to Tourney.”

But Evie, the girl with the hair of blue whose sense of style out-rivaled even that of Audrey’s, wasn’t paying much attention to the goings-on of the field.  She had her head buried in a notebook, scribbling away like a madwoman.  Doug was more used to the field, being in the school band and playing for games.  He had an interest in the sport.  Evie, as far as it seemed, had just picked a very odd spot to do her homework.  Carlos came bounding over, joining Jay, the captain, and the rest of the team midfield.

“Who’s ready for pizza?” he eagerly asked.

“Three guesses says you?” Jay gave him a little shove.

Mal dropped her Tourney stick into the grass and tucked her helmet under her arm.

“Hands in,” she said.

Everyone huddled in a big circle around her to do so, and when she counted to three Mal led her team in a mini-chant of “Aur-a-don Prep!!”  The boys all disbanded with a shout, wandering off the field in different directions and leaving Jay and Carlos with Mal.

“Pizza?” Carlos piped up once more.

“Pizza.  My dorm,” Mal agreed.  "Lonnie’s fencing practice is just starting, she’ll be out of the room and not around to eat three slices by herself again.“

The boys breathed an identical sigh of relief, and the trio made to leave the field along with everyone else.

"Mal!”

By the time she heard the voice, it was too late.  Audrey broke from the cheerleader huddle and slipped down the field, suckerfishing to Mal’s arm like a magnet.

“Great practice, as usual,” Audrey gushed.  "You were amazing out there!“

"Thanks, Audrey,” Mal managed a courteous smile.  Funny how she of all people had learned to be courteous here in Auradon.

“You guys are heading off for pizza, right?” Audrey guessed.

Mal stifled a small groan, forcing the courteousness to stay in place.

“…Coming with?” she tentatively offered, wondering if she could weasel her arm free if she got Audrey distracted enough.

The head cheerleader bounced on her feet in agreement, only clutching Mal tighter.

Up in the bleachers, Doug looked over at his lab partner, whose pencil was slowing down on the paper.

“Almost done?” he asked.

Her page was filled with numbers and symbols, which at first glance looked a lot like gibberish but was easily recognizable to Doug and Evie as physics.  Evie didn’t answer until she finished the last of her writing with a flourish.

“Done,” she told him.

“Only you would think of coming to the Tourney field to study aerodynamics,” Doug stood up and stretched before grabbing his backpack.

“Pretty clever, huh?” Evie flipped her notebook shut and neatly slid it into her bag at her feet, looking out over the field after she did.  "…I thought they were broken up?“

"Hm?” Doug made the questioning sound, following Evie’s eyes.

“The Tourney captain and the head cheerleader.”

“Oh, Mal and Audrey.  Yeah, they broke up.”

Evie watched as Mal left the field with Carlos and Jay at her side, and Audrey stuck to it. She softly laughed, slinging her bag over her shoulder and standing up with Doug.

“…I don’t think anyone told Audrey.”

* * *

“What do you know about Evie?” Mal asked the next night, on the bed with her sketchbook propped on her knees.

Lonnie moved and darted around the dorm room, brandishing her foil at an invisible fencing partner.

“New girl Evie?” she asked, never losing her focus.

“Mhm.”

“Super smart, she gets all the best grades.  Don’t you know her?  You’re both from The Isle.”

“Never knew her,” Mal answered, absentmindedly shading her drawing.

“Then why do you ask?”  Lonnie parried against the invisible opponent.

“She keeps showing up to our Tourney practices.  Today and yesterday, she was up there in the bleachers with Doug.  What’s a nerd like her doing coming within ten feet of anything sports related?”

Lonnie stopped her fencing then, turning towards Mal with an amused laugh.

“What’s an artist like you doing becoming the captain of the Tourney team?  People have more than one side, Mal.”

Mal looked up from her sketchbook long enough to scowl at her.

“You know I’m right,” Lonnie said haughtily.  "If the artist can be a jock then the nerd can be a sports fan.“

"Hardly, she doesn’t even watch.  She just sits up there doing homework, or something.”

“Probably just tagging along with Doug, then.  You know he’s like the only friend she has here.”

Mal frowned, thinking it over.

“…Yeah.  That’s probably it.”

* * *

“You’re best friends with Audrey, right?” Evie asked that same night, sitting on her bed with her chemistry book.

“Yeah, why?  Did she say something totally mean to you, because I know she has that mean streak and her snobby side and I know she was never thrilled about Ben bringing the Isle kids over but—”

“No, Jane,” Evie smiled and lifted a hand to stop her roommate’s babbling.  "It’s nothing like that, I promise.  I just wanted to know what happened with Audrey and…Mal.“

Evie tried out the name for the first time, paying extra attention to how it felt passing through her lips in place of "the Tourney captain”.

Jane turned away from the desk where she was doing her homework, turning in her chair to face Evie.

“…You said she’s not a fan of us kids from The Isle?” Evie repeated, setting her textbook aside entirely.  "Then how did she end up with the daughter of the woman who cursed her mother and her family?“

"It was the bad girl thing,” Jane nodded surely.  "It didn’t happen right away, but it happened.“

"And Mal?” Evie tried out the name again.

“I’m not entirely sure how Mal ended up with her, to be honest,” Jane sheepishly shrugged.  "She couldn’t stand Audrey.“

"Is that why they broke up?”

“Mal is the one who did the breaking.  They didn’t really have a lot in common, but it was mostly Audrey’s parents.  King Phillip and Queen Aurora didn’t approve.”

“Obviously,” Evie smirked.

“Yeah, obviously.  Mal got tired of having to deal with them and broke it off.”

“But Audrey still wants the bad girl thing.”

“I guess so,” Jane went back to her homework, picking up a pencil.  "She talks about Mal like they’re still together.“

"Acts like it too,” Evie laughed quietly to herself and mirrored Jane, opening her chemistry book back to the page she’d stopped on.

“Why’d you ask?” Jane wondered.

“…Just curious.”

* * *

Six.  Why was that number sticking out in Mal’s mind?  The number of minutes left in practice?  No.  The number of times she’d tackled Chad Charming into the ground? Surprisingly, no.  Oh yeah.  It was the number of days she’d noticed Evie up in those bleachers.

And technically, today made seven.

The same as always, sitting next to Doug, engrossed in schoolwork.  She really couldn’t indulge in the library?  She had to pick the crowds of screaming students getting so pumped and excited that they were completely spazzing out over a simple afterschool practice?

For some reason this particular practice went by in a haze.  Mal didn’t really notice rolling and darting through the Kill Zone, taking passes from Carlos, not even all the tackles on poor hapless Chad. One minute, she and the team were gearing up and heading onto the field, and the next, Coach was blowing the whistle.  Mal’s helmet came off.  The telltale girlish screams sounded.

And Mal glanced at the bleachers just in time to see Evie looking up from her work.  Looking up when the screams started and somehow locking right onto Mal’s eyes.

“Pack it in, Mal!” Coach Jenkins’ voice boomed.

Doug leaned over, looking at Evie’s notebook.

“You sure do seem to be having a lot more homework than usual, lately,” he mentioned, scanning over the page.  Evie didn’t appear to have written as much as it looked like she’d been writing.

A little too quickly, Evie flipped the cover closed, meeting Doug’s curious eyes with a smile.

“It’s not all homework.  Some of it’s just for me.  Kind of like my own version of extra credit.”

“Ever the overachiever,” her lab partner laughed.

Her grin shone like the sun high above the field.  

“That’s me!”

* * *

Mal tried to remember every second of yesterday’s Tourney practice, tried to remember  _when_  exactly she could’ve gotten the concussion.  Because a concussion was literally the only reason she’d be standing in front of this door right now with her backpack hanging off of one shoulder of her blue and yellow letterman jacket.  Well, she couldn’t recall the exact circumstances of her phantom concussion, but she went along with it anyway.  Knocked on the door.  Waited patiently until it swung open.

”…Mal?“ the surprise was right there in Evie’s voice.

"Evie,” Mal said in greeting.

They hadn’t actually met before.  

Popular Tourney captain or not, Mal didn’t even expect Evie to know her name.  Evie  _definitely_ didn’t expect Mal to know her name.  Neither of them expected to be addressed so lightly and easily on their first official meeting.  Both just rolled with it.

“I hear that you’re the girl to go to for homework help,” Mal went on.  "And my math grade is dipping dangerously close to me being benched.“

"They can bench the captain?”

“Right?  That’s what I said.  There should be like, rules against that, or something.  So are you busy?  I mean, I’m totally sorry for just barging in like this.  I can come back later, or not at all, or—”

Evie pushed the door open wide.

“Come on in.”

Mal did so, stepping into the dorm room while Evie closed the door behind her.  It was just Evie, no roommate hanging around.  Mal couldn’t for the life of her remember who the girl’s roommate was.

“So.  Fellow VK,” Mal said, standing in the middle of the room and not-so-subtly eyeing the decor.

“Evil Queen’s daughter,” Evie gave a little curtsy.

“Daughter of Maleficent,” Mal bowed her head.

“Nice to finally meet you.  So, what’ve you got?”

Mal puzzled intently over the “finally” in Evie’s words as she slid her backpack off and dug inside, pulling out a bent and wrinkled packet that she hadn’t bothered to put into a folder.  Evie took it, straightening the paper out as best she could before she read the title.

“Oh, polynomials.  No problem,” she said cheerily.

“All problem.  I’m an artist, I don’t do math.”

Evie’s eyes widened.  Good grief, they were amazingly brown.

“You’re an artist??” she questioned.

Mal laughed a little.

“Yeah, I know.  Team captain, an artist.  Who would’ve thought.”

Evie gestured to the foot of her bed, inviting Mal to sit.  Mal did so, letting her backpack drop to the floor, and Evie joined her.

“I’m into fashion,” Evie excitedly said, eyes glittering.  "I have a sketchbook full of designs I’ve drawn.“

"Really??” now it was Mal’s turn to be surprised.

“Yeah, I know.  Science nerd, a fashionista.  Who would’ve thought,” Evie giggled.

Mal didn’t know how she kept managing to catch Evie alone in the dorm in the days that followed.  She soon learned that Evie’s roommate was Jane, daughter of their headmistress, Fairy Godmother.  It made some kind of sense to Mal that that would keep her busy, probably enlisted by her mom to run errands around the school or spend mind-numbing amounts of time working the photocopier.  But it meant that the next week was just Mal and Evie, Evie and Mal, studying together early in the evenings.

Mal was usually done and gone before Jane ever returned to retire for the night, but one day she came back early, with Audrey in tow.  The two girls had been giggling together when they came through the door, but Audrey’s laughter cut short when she saw Mal and Evie side by side on the bed with a textbook propped open between them.

“…Mal,” Audrey said curtly.

“Audrey,” Mal said the name easily.

The head cheerleader, unknowingly or not, narrowed her eyes at Evie.

“New girl,” even more curt.

“…Evie,” Mal corrected, not as easily and a touch more sternly.

Audrey essentially ignored her.

“Mally-boo, the girls and I are getting together for a movie night in my room.  Want to come along?”

“Not really,” Mal shuddered at the old nickname.

Audrey looked flat-out offended.

“I have homework,” Mal went on, giving the textbook she and Evie both held with one hand a little shake for emphasis.

“Can’t it wait?” Audrey pouted.

“Not really,” Mal said again.

The cheerleader stood there for a moment doing a remarkable impression of a goldfish, then spun on her heels without another word and stormed back out into the hallway.  Jane’s bewildered expression switched to a nervous smile at the girls for a split second, then turned back into bewildered before she scurried after her best friend.

“…Thank you,” Evie quietly said when they were alone again.

“For what?”

“For staying here.  Even if it  _is_  with your ex-girlfriend, I’m sure movies sound way more appealing than homework to you.  I still don’t have a lot of friends here in Auradon and…thank you for hanging out with me.  I asked Jane about you and Audrey, once.  She said you were Audrey’s bad girl infatuation, but I don’t see it.  You’re not bad at all.”

“Pfft?  Are you kidding me?  I’m rotten, Evie. To the core.”

Mal put on her best Big Bad scary face and only succeeded in getting a giggle out of Evie.

“…Hey, E, we’ve got a game tomorrow.  Auradon versus Corona.  It’s gonna be pretty big.  Will you be there?  I know you’re not exactly a Tourney girl, but…it’d be cool if you were there.”

Evie raised an eyebrow with a sly smile.

“Will you score the winning goal?”

Big Bad Mal lit up with the biggest and baddest of grins.

“Just look for Number 59.”

* * *

Game day.

Practices were insane all on their own, but game day was a whole other ballpark.  The whole school seemed to be gathered in one hallway after classes ended as they moved in one disorganized mass en route to the Tourney field.  In the clamor to get outside and snag the best seats first there was some pushing, a little light shoving, but nothing too brutal—hello, it was still Auradon Prep. No, nothing brutal, but still enough Tourney fervor in the air to make it seem like nothing would get in the way of the students and the field.

Except Number 59.

The sighting of the beloved letterman rippled through the hallway like a stone in a pond, and soon every other kid was swiveling a head to catch a glimpse.  The cerulean of the jacket, the sunshine yellow sleeves, Auradon Prep’s crest on the front with Mal’s name proudly emblazoned on the back, above the “59”.  The only things missing were the familiar waves of purple spilling over the shoulders.

Replaced instead with waves of blue.

Turned out that Evie had somewhat of a name herself at the school, for it was being whispered here and there as she too trekked down the hall on the way to the Tourney field.  Although raised to relish the attention, Evie couldn’t help but keep her eyes straight ahead a little shyly, hyperaware of the blank stares, the openmouthed gasps, the smirks, the smiles, and the variety of other reactions as the entire school saw her sporting Mal’s jacket.

 _“Just look for Number 59,”_  Mal had said the night before, shrugging out of her jacket and handing it to Evie.

_“…You want me to wear it?”_

_“…Yeah.  I guess I do.”_

Big Bad Mal.

“Evie??”

Doug found her at the end of the hall, and Evie was so happy to see his friendly face.  He looked her over with the same openmouthed gasp many others wore, but smiled soon enough.

“Nice,” he approved.

They made it outside, where the bleachers on both sides were filling and the field was setting up: blue and yellow on one end, purple and yellow on the other.  Mal had been fastening her gloves when she spotted her; she always seemed to magically spot her.  Leaving her helmet on the grass by Carlos and Jay, she jogged off the field and caught Evie at the base of the bleachers.

“E!” she yelled, drawing to a stop.

“M,” Evie smiled brightly.  

Doug looked back and forth between them and bowed out politely, starting up the bleachers to save their seats.

“It looks good on you,” Mal said.

Evie’s cheeks turned a little pink and she gave a tiny twirl for Mal’s benefit.

“Thanks, M.”

Somehow, over all the noise, the two of them still managed to hear the crunching of poor grass as a pair of flats stomped across it.

“Mally-boo!!”

This time, both Mal and Evie cringed at the nickname.

Audrey met them, red in the face, eyeing Evie like she was about to whip a pom-pom at her.

“Mal!  Is this…is  _she_  wearing your Tourney jacket??” Audrey demanded.

“You’re literally standing right there looking at her,” Mal rolled her eyes.

“You never let me wear your jacket!!”

“I know, Audrey.”

“But you’ll let  _her_  wear it?”

For the briefest of seconds, Mal’s eyes flashed a bright green.

“I’m letting  _Evie_ wear my Tourney jacket, yeah.  And you have a routine to lead.”

Still pouty and red, enough to give Tinkerbell a run for her money, Audrey stomped back the way she came with an “Ugh!”  Eyes a normal, soft green again, Mal turned to Evie.

“Wearing the captain’s jacket and making the head cheerleader jealous.  Big day for the nerd,” she laughed.

“And a big day for the jock,” Evie watched the bleachers and the field flood with students.

Mal tugged at her jersey by the collar.

“Number 59.  Making the winning goal.”

“Not that you need it, but…” Evie leaned in, pressing the softest of kisses to Mal’s lips.  "…For good luck.  Now go out there and win.“

The red went quite nicely with Mal’s purple hair.

With that, she rejoined her team on the field, picking up her Tourney stick and her helmet, finding Carlos in front of her failing miserably to hold in an uncontrollable snicker.

”…What?“ she questioned, readjusting her gloves.

Jay stuck his helmet on with an impish smirk and gave Mal a light punch on the arm, saying the one word he had been dying to say ever since Mal first glimpsed Evie high up in the bleachers.

_"Score.”_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get heated when Evie congratulates Mal on her championship Tourney win

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> from an anonymous request on tumblr

Eight months ago, Mal had stood on the Tourney field and spied her in the bleachers. Eight months later, Evie was still up there, the loudest voice and the most energetic spirit at each and every Tourney game. Of course she was energetic, the team captain was  _really_ hot. And also her girlfriend, so, there was that.

The whistle blew, Mal came to a stop, and just like always, when the helmet came off the first thing she did was look to the bleachers to see Evie. She was bouncing on her feet and clapping, looking at the scoreboard that flaunted Auradon Prep's victory over Sherwood Forest. Mal's favorite part of the game wasn't playing, or even winning, it was making her way to the foot of the bleachers when it was all over and seeing Evie race down to her, where she'd throw her arms around Mal's shoulders and have a big kiss waiting for her.  
  
As always, there was a loud chorus of cheers and whistles when the Tourney captain and her girlfriend had their traditional end-of-game kiss, but they were both used to it by now, taking the attention in stride.  
  
"The team was amazing," Evie gushed, touching her forehead to Mal's.  
  
"And how was I?" Mal asked.  
  
"You were alright."  
  
Mal pretended to pout for just a second before breaking into a smile, kissing Evie again.  
  
"You know what this means?" Mal questioned, taking Evie's hands.  
  
Of course Evie knew, it was all anyone could talk about.  
  
"We move on to the championship game, Auradon versus Arendelle," she said proudly. "And the Knight's first championship win with you as their captain."  
  
" _If_  we win."  
  
"We'll win!" Evie insisted, squeezing Mal's hands tightly. "M, it'll be the perfect end to the school year. The championship trophy will sit in the trophy case, and for years and years to come everyone will know that a girl from The Isle was more than just a villain. She was a leader. She was a winner."  
  
Well, that certainly earned Evie another kiss.  
  
Mal heard Jay and Carlos calling her name, drawing her back onto the field to celebrate and lead the team chant. She may have had to say a brief goodbye to Evie, but Evie stayed steadfast in her spot, proudly watching her girl.  
  
She still remembered September, when she'd been transferred to Auradon Prep and taken away from The Isle. Evie couldn't deny it was a relief, but it was also scary. She was all alone with no one to talk to until Doug, the kindest chemistry partner in the world, and Jane, the sweetest roommate in the world, smiled their smiles and became her friends. And then there was Mal, not the kindest or the sweetest, but the most popular. And a little intimidating, to be honest, especially with the head cheerleader—who just so happened to double as Mal's ex—always hanging around.  
  
But somehow she and Mal had caught each other's eyes across the field, then caught each other's eyes some more, and when Mal made the move to break the silence between them, their lives as single girls were effectively over. Now here it was, May, with the end of the school year coming up, and Evie's amazing girlfriend was on the Tourney field gathering everyone's hands in the middle so they could cheer and laugh and smile.  
  
Everyone had cleared away from the field by the time Mal had come back from changing out of her uniform in the locker room, everyone but Evie, who sat on the very last bleacher and watched with glittering eyes as dusk began to settle in above her. Mal actually had to stop as she came back to the field with her backpack slung over one shoulder, absolutely smitten by the sight of Evie under the sky.  
  
"...So, in keeping with our long-standing tradition, I owe you one post-victory date," Mal said with a smile, standing over Evie. "What'll it be? Movie? Pizza?"  
  
"Sit with me," Evie said simply.  
  
Mal did, not needing to be told twice. She joined Evie on the bleachers, tilting her head back to look up at the darkening sky with her.  
  
"Where's Hercules?" she wondered, studying the faintly shining stars that were just beginning to appear.  
  
"M, I don't know," Evie laughed.  
  
"Come on, you're the science girl, you know everything."  
  
Evie pointed.  
  
"I know  _that one_  is the Second Star to the Right," she said with a nod.  
  
"Is that the one Jiminy Cricket wants us to wish upon?"  
  
Another wonderful giggle from Evie.  
  
"You can wish upon any star you want, Mal. They're all listening."  
  
So Mal searched the sky and picked out the brightest pinpoint of light she could find, squeezing her eyes shut tight, the way she'd come to learn little Auradon children did on the advent of birthdays as they wished for the best and biggest of presents. Evie saw her out of the corner of her eye, a warm flush washing over her as she caught sight of Mal's focused face.  
  
"...I know you wished to win the championship game," Evie teased, bumping Mal with her shoulder.  
  
"Did not," Mal haughtily said, opening her eyes.  
  
"...No? Then what did you wish for?"  
  
"Not supposed to tell."  
  
"Mal, come on!" Evie playfully shook her like she could shake the answer out of her. "You tell me everything, I want to know! It'll stay between you and me, you know it."  
  
Mal could never say no to Evie for long.  
  
"I wished for us to stay just like this. The eight months we've been together have been the greatest, E, but I can't wait for it to be nine months, ten months, eleven, a  _year._ Evie, how amazing would it be for us to have a one year anniversary?"  
  
That excited sparkle in Mal's eyes was something else entirely.  
  
"Very amazing," Evie agreed with a warm smile. "I'd wish for the exact same thing, Mal. So, since we have an anniversary to practice for, let's head out to that post-victory date."  
  
"Yes ma'am," Mal took Evie's hand and got to her feet, pulling Evie along with her.  
  
Date night, championship games, end of the school year, anniversaries—there certainly was a lot to look forward to.

* * *

 

"So? How's Mal?" Doug asked, walking with Evie down the halls to breakfast.  
  
"Today? Or in general?"  
  
"Today," Doug clarified.  
  
The day of the championship Tourney game. Nine hours to go.  
  
"Well, I haven't seen her yet. It's a Saturday, and I figured she could use a morning to sleep in, especially today. But she has to be fine, of course, Mal doesn't get nervous."  
  
"No, but it sure is something that the first time in five years that Auradon Prep goes to the Tourney final, it's under Mal's leadership."  
  
Oh, of course Doug had to say that. Of course he just had to go and give Evie a reason to be nervous on her girlfriend's behalf.  
  
"The first time in five years?" she repeated.  
  
"Mal's an amazing captain," Doug nodded.  
  
And the whole school was counting on her to lead the Knights to victory. Hoo boy. The team's track record wasn't perfect, they'd had their share of losses over the school year, but Evie had no idea what would happen if the Knights lost the championship. In coming from The Isle, she couldn’t imagine it would be anything good.  
  
As it turned out, Mal didn't take advantage of a chance to sleep in, and found Doug and Evie in the dining hall only a few moments after they'd settled in with their trays.  
  
"Morning captain," Doug playfully saluted her.  
  
"Good morning, Mal," Evie brightly greeted.  
  
Mal stifled a yawn.  
  
"Morning."  
  
She was donning her Tourney jacket, the iconic blue and yellow with her name and number on the back. Automatically, reflexively, she shrugged out of it to drape it over Evie's shoulders, Evie who admittedly wore the jacket more so than Mal did. Evie loved it, warm and soft and smelling of her girlfriend and always reminding her of the day Mal officially asked Evie to come watch her play, in an Auradon versus Corona game where Evie gave Mal her very first kiss for good luck. She'd have to give her an extra special good luck kiss for the championship game, and should the Knights win, she figured an equally extra special post-victory date was in order.  
  
Mal had her arm around her, fingertips mindlessly tracing patterns on her arm that Evie could feel through the material of the jacket, making her stifle a shudder. An electric head-to-toe tingle brought on just by Mal's touch. Evie seemed to be getting a lot of those lately. When they kissed, or when Mal whispered cute little things in her ear and the closeness made not-so-cute things run through Evie's head.  
  
Carlos and Jay joined them at some point, sitting down to breakfast and talking excitedly to Mal about the game. No nerves whatsoever. That was as much as Evie got out of their conversation before she stopped listening, head on Mal's shoulder after finishing her pancakes and zoning out as her mind flashed ahead to that afternoon, that evening, when a Tourney championship might be won and Mal and Evie might be celebrating.   
  
And just  _how_ they might be celebrating...Evie was starting to get her ideas about that. Ideas brought on by a history of shudders and tingles and electricity that Mal was the unwitting cause of. So it was with only partly selfish reasons that Evie screamed and cheered especially hard from the stands when the game was finally upon them—she was looking forward to celebrating.    
  
Mal's jacket was like a warm hug on her as she wore it, and Mal herself on the field was a sight to behold. Most people didn't know Mal, they only knew the Tourney captain. The same could've been said for Evie all those months ago, watching curiously from the bleachers and so sure that Mal of The Isle was an adrenaline-charged jock who lived and breathed Tourney. Not that she saw that as a bad thing, but that first impression was a hard one to shake. Until she'd gotten to know the enchanting green eyes beneath the helmet and learned that Mal was no jock, she was the stunning enigma of an artist who just so happened to dabble in sports, just like Evie herself was the stunning enigma of a frilly fashionista with a sharp mind instead of an empty bobblehead. She and Mal made a good team that way, one enigma to another.  
  
But knowing Mal the way she did, in the special way that no one else knew her, watching her play was something amazing indeed. Her skills of darting through the field and tackling boys twice her size into the dirt were to be expected of a jock, but not of the soft and surprisingly sweet artist who wore the most carefree of smiles as she sketched drawings of Evie or occasionally doodled a childish "Mal + Evie" inside a little heart on her notes during class. And honestly, to Evie...the contrast between the two sides of Mal was just really,  _really_ hot.  
  
The Auradon Knights were well in the lead by the time the clock was counting closer and closer down to its end, and the thrill in the air was tangible. Anything could happen, of course. The Arendelle Blizzards could swoop in from out of nowhere and snatch the rug right out from Auradon Prep, but where others were anxiously biting their nails, Evie was keeping hers pretty and blue. Her faith in Mal inspired her faith in the whole Tourney team, and any minute now the buzzer would sound, whistles would blow, and the Knights would be handed a championship trophy.  
  
A championship trophy turned out to be nowhere near as heavy as either Mal or Evie were expecting, but they weren't exactly complaining.  
  
Mal was sure her favorite part of every game was running to the bleachers to meet Evie, but turning around to see Evie running out onto the field to meet  _her_  was something far better. Even if the rest of the stands were racing onto the field in victory too, Mal's eyes were only on Evie. Just like they'd been months and months ago. Evie tried, but suddenly couldn't find the words to describe how happy she was. Happy that Mal, who came to Auradon Prep as a villain and an outcast, was ending her junior year as a hero. And so happy for herself, who left The Isle and found not a shallow prince, but an amazing girl to call her own. The cheers seemed a little louder than usual when Mal and Evie had their championship kiss, but all they could do was smile.  
  
The fact that both girls hailed from the Isle of the Lost was their only saving grace in their attempts to slip past tangles of friends and peers and teammates who wanted to revel in the championship victory well into the night—Mal and Evie knew how to make themselves scarce. Hand in hand and beset by giggles they made their escape, sneaking off the Tourney field and disappearing back towards the school. With Mal's roommate Lonnie out and about taking in the festivities, Evie accompanied her girlfriend back to her dorm.  
  
It had been a long day, and a long game, and Mal was happy to take a quick shower and trade her Tourney uniform for her pajamas, a spare blue and gold jersey flashing her "59" and a pair of woefully comfy cotton pants. Here again was the soft Mal that Evie knew, the one who would curl up on her bed with her sketchbook and some music quietly playing while she got lost among pages and pencils. Evie was sitting at the edge of Lonnie's bed, heart breaking beautifully right down the middle when her Mal finished changing and came out of the bathroom.  
  
"...I thought we could stay in for our post-victory date," Mal quietly said.  
  
"...I was thinking the same thing," Evie said back.  
  
She stood up and crossed the room, still proudly wearing Mal's jacket as she cupped her hands around her girlfriend's cheeks to hold her still for a deep kiss. Mal's eyes fell shut, and all on their own her hands moved around Evie's waist, sending those telltale shudders through her legs.  
  
"You did it," Evie whispered. "You helped Auradon Prep win its first championship in years."  
  
"It wasn't just me," Mal laughed from the tickle of Evie nuzzling into her neck.  
  
"I know, I know...but you're the one I'm the most proud of."  
  
With Mal holding on to her it was a simple matter for Evie to step back and guide her around the room, knowing that wherever she went, Mal and her hands would follow. She had to bite back a giggle at the look on Mal's face when she sat her down in the desk chair; a childish pout that was upset she'd been unceremoniously pushed out of kissing distance from Evie.  
  
"I have something special in mind for you," Evie said.  
  
The room was dim, illuminated only by a single bulb of orangeish lamplight coming from Mal's nightstand, but still Evie caught the widening of Mal's eyes as she heard and processed that tantalizing promise.  
  
"...Do you?" Mal questioned.  
  
She couldn't tell if it was Evie making her heart race or if it was her lingering Isle instincts telling her that sitting in a chair in a darkened room with the words  _"I have something special in mind for you"_  hanging in the air was a sign and a signal to bolt out of there as fast as she could. Evie crept around the back of the chair, leaning down to whisper right into Mal's ear.  
  
"Only if you want me to, of course."  
  
"I want you to," Mal didn't even hesitate, her words coming out on a breath instead of a voice.  
  
It was Evie making her heart race. No doubt about it now. She missed the warmth of Evie's ruby lips against the shell of her ear the second they disappeared, as Evie walked away somewhere Mal couldn't see with her back turned towards her. The air was so still that Mal only heard her own beating heart, the pace of her quickened breaths. But then music started to play from her speaker, a lilting and lurid beat that began to drown out anything and everything else.  
  
"I like this song," Mal thoughtlessly blurted, unsure of what else to say. It was a little hard for her brain to function with her sinfully sexy girlfriend and  _this_  song existing in the same space together.  
  
"I like it too," Evie murmured somewhere behind her, her voice even more seductively raspy than usual.  
  
To throw fuel right onto the fire, there was Evie, swaying her way in front of Mal.  _Dancing._ Hips moving deliciously in time to the music's beat and  _holy crap_  how did Mal not notice how tight those jeans were until just this second?  
  
Eight months. Eight months they had dated, and Evie, with her nose in books and her mind on fashion, had never once stopped to mention that she could dance. When whatever was happening here was over (if Mal survived) she'd definitely be having a word or two about it with her girlfriend. Evie stooped over low, resting her hands on Mal's thighs while she looked up at her through dark lashes.  
  
"I bet Audrey could never cheer for you the way I could," she said, the slyest of smiles spreading across her lips.  
  
"Audrey who?" Mal teased, eyes squeezing shut at the way Evie's hands were dangerously sliding up and up.  
  
And then Evie was on her, straddling her around the waist and bracing herself on Mal's shoulders. She absolutely delighted in the way Mal's eyes shot back open when she felt Evie's hips rocking on top of her; she felt the song playing in the way Evie moved. Mal's fingers twitched, her hands tightened into fists—she wanted to touch her. Evie taunted and tantalized, her lips ghosting down the side of Mal's neck while she worked a rhythmic circle in her girlfriend's lap. In a way, it was payback, payback for all the electricity and sparks that Mal had sent coursing through her veins with just a look, just a kiss.  
  
And Mal was certainly getting that electricity back with interest.  
  
She reached up to slip her Tourney jacket off Evie's shoulders, but her girlfriend stopped her, curling her fingers around Mal's wrists.  
  
"Too easy, M," she said with a devilish smirk.  
  
She was up then, bouncing to her feet and out of Mal's reach as she gave a stylish twirl and turned her back on Mal, a river of blue hair trailing perfectly after her. Mal's eyes were drawn down as Evie swayed back and forth with the utmost grace, down to where the ridiculously tight jeans emphasized  _such_  a nice looking part of Evie. Mal watched Evie's back arch as she settled into her lap again, and her heart backflipped in her chest.  
  
Mal was no fool, she had functioning eyes, didn't she? Of course she'd entertained sexy thoughts of her girlfriend before, but seeing them come to life right in front of her, that was something else entirely. She bit her lip, not sure what sort of sound she was trying to hold back but knowing that whatever shred of pride she had left wouldn't let her utter it in front of Evie. She held Evie's waist, trying to believe she had some say in Evie getting any funny ideas about leaving her lap again but understanding full well that she was powerless against any and all of her whims.   
  
Evie leaned back against her, letting her head loll and stunning Mal with the sweet scent of shampoo coming off her hair in waves. For one brief second, Mal stopped caring that she was supposed to be looking but not touching, nipping at Evie's earlobe and eliciting a satisfied hum from her.  
  
"You're evil," Mal growled.  
  
"It's in my blood," Evie purred.  
  
She reached an arm back behind her to tangle fingers in Mal's hair, holding on to the silken purple like reins as she rode Mal up and down to the music. Mal never guessed that Auradon would be the place where she'd be tested on how well she held up under torture.  
  
But truthfully, the real torture was in the way Evie left her behind, slowly rising to her feet and strutting her way around the chair. Mal turned in her seat and craned her neck to follow Evie, unwilling to take her eyes off her for even a second as her body moved through the space like a dazzling, mesmerizing comet. She wore a smile all the while, a coy and flirty thing painted perfectly on her face as she circled around, letting her fingertips graze against Mal's arms, her chest, the back of her neck. Mal had her moves on the field—and Evie had them off.  
  
With one simple shrug Evie dropped her jacket from her shoulders, where it pooled on the floor at her feet. She now stood before Mal in her fitted tee, with her heart and crown emblem that she'd let Mal skillfully spray paint onto the material standing out snugly on her chest. She'd have to remember to wear something low-cut the next time she tried this, so she could bend over mercilessly and watch Mal go beet red in the face.  
  
"Tell me what you're thinking," Evie said, voice dark and husky as she dipped down to the floor and brought herself back up.  
  
"...I'm dreaming," Mal told her, breath hitching when Evie slipped a knee between her legs.  
  
"That's one vivid imagination you have, M."  
  
Mal remembered the beginning of the school year, when she and Evie sat side by side as they studied from the same textbook, Evie smiling shyly and cutely and just amazed that she was making such fast friends with the captain of the Tourney team.  
  
The fact that this was the same girl rocking her slim body to the sexy beating of Mal's speaker was mind-blowing in all the best ways.  
  
They both knew the song, and both knew it was coming to an end. The sinking of Mal's heart in her chest was stopped in its tracks as Evie swung in close, lifting her shirt just the slightest as if both threatening and promising to take that off, too. Mal was reaching out for her desperately by the time Evie made herself comfortable in her lap again, pressing harder and deeper into Mal with each grind of her hips. With the pulsing tune winding down, Evie let Mal indulge in her fun, let her slide her hands up the back of her shirt and feel Evie's hot skin underneath her fingertips.  
  
Evie stopped when the song did, when a room plunged into silence once more had the two of them locked deep within each other's eyes, both of them breathing very hard even though one simply sat back and enjoyed the show. Mal was gentle but still  _so_  passionate as she slipped a hand around the back of Evie's head and pulled her into a fire-fueled kiss, her eyes closing and her mind vividly reliving the past three minutes and thirty-five seconds. Evie was pleased to take it as a sign of a job well done, gripping Mal by the collar of her jersey as she fervidly kissed back. Those brown eyes were sparkling like starlight when Mal pulled away and gazed into them, the same kind of starlight she'd wished on in the hopes that it would keep her and Evie together for a long time to come.  
  
"...I love you," she breathed, not for a second tearing her eyes away.  
  
Evie didn't know what she expected to hear after treating Mal to a lap dance, but for some reason, it wasn't that.  
  
"...You what?" she gasped.  
  
Mal didn't answer with words at first, but with a second kiss, breathy and hungry and driven like she might die if she couldn't get at Evie's lips again.  
  
"I love you," she repeated, saying it into Evie's ear this time as if meaning to help her hear it better. "Do you love me?"  
  
As if Evie's performance just then wasn't all the answer Mal needed.  
  
"...Of course I do, Mal," Evie was suddenly alight and aglow with the biggest of smiles. "Of course I love you!"  
  
The dorm room was then filled not by silence drizzled with labored breathing, but by laughter, laughter as Mal scooped Evie up and stumbled with her to the bed, the two of them falling onto the covers in a tangled heap of giggles. When the laughter released them for one brief moment they rolled to face each other, laying on their sides with their foreheads pressed close.  
  
"Say it again," Evie said, brushing her nose against Mal's.  
  
"I love you," Mal gladly obliged. "You're everything that makes me smile and everything that makes me laugh, and everything that makes me think eight months could turn into eight years and I'd be perfectly okay with that."  
  
If Evie wasn't so intent on making sure nothing ruined her view of Mal, she would've cried.  
  
"There's a chance I might love you for more than eight years," she said.  
  
"That's okay too," Mal assured her.  
  
An absentminded hand slowly ran its fingers through Evie's hair as Mal just watched her, traced the angles and planes of her girlfriend's angelic face with her eyes while Evie herself let her own eyes drift close, not at all objecting to a little nap right there at Mal's side.  
  
Mal didn't object to such a thing either, snuggling even closer so they could stay comfortably warm without covers on top of them. The single light in the room kept it just dim enough for a short bit of sleep to overtake them, and who knew what sort of soft and romantic things would accompany their post-victory date when they woke back up? Perhaps sitting at the window and taking in more stargazing, or sneaking to the school's kitchen for popcorn and coming back to Mal's dorm for a pajama movie night. Neither of them knew for sure, and that was just fine.  
  
Mal did know one thing, though, one thing very much for certain. She may have just won her first ever championship game, with a prize that would come to glitter and shine behind a glass case for all the school to see, but Evie and Evie alone was the real reason she was a winner tonight. It didn't matter to Mal that every Tourney game came complete with a whole squad of cheerleaders rooting for her to be the best.  
  
All she needed was one, one she called "E" and loved more than any golden trophy in the entire kingdom.


End file.
